Jim Commentucci/The Post-StandardRosewood Heights, a Syracuse nursing home at 614 S Crouse Ave., will come under closer regulatory scrutiny now that it has been added to the federal government's list of the nation's worst nursing homes.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A second Syracuse area nursing home has been added to the federal government’s list of the nation’s worst nursing homes.

Rosewood Heights, a 242-bed home at 614 S. Crouse Ave., has to improve within 18 to 24 months or face the possibility of losing Medicare and Medicaid funding.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services added Rosewood to what it calls its list of 145 “special focus” nursing homes last month. These are homes that have been repeatedly cited for serious deficiencies and persistent poor quality of care over the past three years. Fewer than 1 percent of the nation’s nursing homes are placed on this list.

Facilities on the list are subjected to more frequent inspections. The government’s special focus program is designed to stimulate improvement at the worst homes.

Van Duyn, the Onondaga County-owned nursing home on Onondaga Hill, has been on the list since November.

Rosewood is owned by St. Joseph’s and Crouse hospitals. Rosewood and Van Duyn are considered “safety net” nursing homes because they accept many of the community’s sickest, most difficult patients who often have no place else to go.

Mark Murphy, a St. Joseph’s vice president who is president of Rosewood’s board of directors, said the nursing home will work to fix its problems and improve care over the next 24 months.

He also said Rosewood and Loretto, the area’s biggest nursing home operator, have resurrected a proposal to close Rosewood, a 41-year-old outdated facility, by early 2014 and move many of its residents to small one-story “green house” residences to be built in Cicero.

Last year Loretto dropped the idea to build the 13 small homes on land just west of Route 11 and north of Route 31 because of concerns over the project’s financial viability. Murphy said since then the plan has been reassessed and a decision has been made to move forward. Murphy said replacing Rosewood with a less institutional setting would be good for residents.

The government says special focus nursing homes are facilities that have not fixed underlying deficiencies that cause persistent serious problems. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services bases its decision to put a home on the special focus list on the recommendation of the state Health Department, which inspects the nursing homes.

An Oct. 11, 2011 state health department inspection found 25 deficiencies at Rosewood, four of which involved harm to residents. By comparison, the average nursing home inspection contains six to seven deficiencies, according to CMS.

The most serious problems cited in the October inspection involved Rosewood’s failure to provide the services necessary to prevent and heal bed sores. Rosewood has been cited for the same problem in the past.

The home was recently fined $10,000 for a 2010 incident involving a resident who had to be hospitalized because Rosewood did not treat the individual’s thyroid problem.

State Health Department records show Rosewood has been cited for deficiencies at a rate more than five times higher than the state average over the past three years. The records also show Rosewood has generated three times more complaints than the average New York nursing home.

Van Duyn has made significant improvement since it was added to the list late last year, said Ann Rooney, Onondaga County’s deputy county executive for human services.

A March 6 inspection by the state Health Department found nine deficiencies, none of which resulted in harm to patients or financial penalties. “Nine deficiencies in comparison to the ones we have had previously was a marked improvement,” Rooney said.

Van Duyn could get off the list later this year if it does well on its next inspection, she said.

Van Duyn now has three administrators instead of one which has allowed the nursing home to take a more proactive approach to preventing serious problems, she said.
While it was better than previous inspections, the March 6 inspection contained two repeat deficiencies – failure to assist some residents with their meals and failure to follow infection control procedures.

Rooney said nursing home staff will focus more attention on those areas.